Review of Rock Band for iPhone

Rock Band has become one of the most popular games available for any gaming platform.  The Electronic Arts franchise is available on every popular game console out there – XBox, Playstation and Wii – and last month became available for iPhone and iPod Touch users.  The game, which allows you to play there different instruments or sing vocals in a band, provides a rich experience even on the smaller iPhone platform.  Controls are similar to that of the console versions of the game making it a quick learn for those who already play Rock Band.  Couple this with an ever growing online community of Rock Band iPhone users, downloadable songs and the ability to play multiplayer with those online or other iPhone users near you who have the game and you have a game that will keep you occupied for hours – just like the console version.

Rock Band for iPhone Splashscreen

 To start, Rock Band is a big install on your iPhone or iPod Touch and I recommend doing the download from your Mac or PC via iTunes.  In all it is about a 158MB download and that is before you purchase any additional songs.  The song downloads are fine over 3G given they are usually less than 3MB each.   When you start Rock Band, the main menu of the application will be very familiar to you if you play on a console system.  You have the option of Quick Play, World Tour and Multiplayer to actually play the game.  In addition, you have the option to go to the Music Store to download more songs, view other EA titles for iPhone, view Messages (from online playing) and Extras (where you see options, help, about and your Claims to Fame).

Figure 1 - The main menu of Rock Band for iPhone

With Quick Play you can immediately begin playing any song in your catalog and with any instrument – Guitar, Bass, Drums or Vocals.  Once select your song, choose your instrument and the difficulty that you want to play the game on for that song.  If you choose to play guitar or bass you will have 4 pick-shaped buttons at the bottom of the display to press when each not comes down the familiar fret board.  With drums you will see four round buttons (uh, drums are round) and with vocals you will see four side buttons to press as each note comes across the screen. 

Figure 2- The Guitar and Bass playing screen in Rock Band for iPhone

Figure 3 - The Drums playing screen in Rock Band for iPhone

Figure 4 - The Vocals playing screen in Rock Band for iPhone

When it comes to play the vocals in a song I have found it much easier to play when holding my iPhone in landscape mode as I can use both thumbs to play.  The rest of the game plays well in portrait mode and you should have no problem (other than your hands getting sweaty… admit it, it happens) while playing.  It would have been really awesome if EA had made Rock Band support real vocals in the iPhone version.  That could have really made it just as entertaining as the console version of the game.

In all there are about a dozen songs that come with Rock Band ranging from “Easy” to “Impossible”.  With each song presenting a level of difficulty and the instruments providing three levels of difficulty, the challenge that Rock Band presents is there no matter if you are a Rock Band veteran or a new user.  It also makes the game addicting!  As you play a song you increase a multiplier that increases your points for each note going forward.  Like the console version, you also have highlight notes that allow you to shake your iPhone and “power up” to play at an even higher multiplier for a brief period of time.  A note of warning:  The shaking can make your iPhone fly out of your hands if you are not careful!  So play over carpeted or close to your desk.

Figure 5 - The song list of Rock Band for iPhone

A real bonus of Rock Band is the ability to add new songs directly from the application.  To do this go to the Music Store where you will see a variety of songs that are free or other that you purchase, usually for .99 cents.  To download a song just tap it and it will be downloaded to your iPhone.  From that point on you will see it as part of your song list with a small download icon next to it to remind you that it was a song you downloaded.

Figure 6- The Music Store in Rock Band for iPhone

In the two weeks I have had Rock Band it seems that about once a week there are new songs added to the Music Store.  I assume – and hope – that this will continue as more iPhone users purchase the application.  Keep in mind also that the Music Store purchases you make are associated with your iTunes account so if you have to reset your iPhone for some reason you can re-download those purchases.

The World Tour feature in Rock Band is essentially a career type mode.  In it you play any instrument in various cities.  As you play well in those cities, new cities are opened up to you as well as new songs.  Game play itself is exactly the same as Quick Play – you just get to live your dream and tour in your own, erm, Rock Band.

Figure 7 - Choose your instrument for your World Tour in Rock Band for iPhone

Once you complete a song in Rock Band your results are show to you.  This consists of the percentage of notes you hit in the song as well as the longest streak of notes that you had in the song.  If you are awarded any additional award, of which there are many, you will also be shown that in a pop-up menu.  You will also note the star count on the top of this screen.  The more stars the better you actually did in the song – 5 being the maximum achievable.  One of the things that my kids and me enjoy about the console version of Rock Band is trying to “five-star” every song.  Now we can do that here as well.  You will also see the number of fans you gained.  This is important for other achievements that you can get in the game.  The higher your score and the higher the difficulty you played the more fans you can gain at any given time.

Figure 8 - The results of a playing a song in Rock Band for iPhone

Rock Band for iPhone also lets you post your scores by tying into Facebook.  Once you associate your Facebook account with Rock Band, your scores can be posted online and you can see how you compare to other players.  This feature seems to be a bit sparse now given there are not huge numbers of players online yet.  I suspect this will change though over time.

Figure 9 - Posting your score on Facebook is built into Rock Band for iPhone

Figure 10 - The Leaderboard for a song in Rock Band for iPhone

If you have a song that you do poorly in – can’t seem to get it right, hit the notes and end up being booed off stage – then you get a failed message.  Nothing like a little humility!  Trust me, you will get more than one of these when you move to Hard difficulty on any instrument. 

Figure 11 - Failed message on a song in Rock Band for iPhone... time to try again

Within Rock Band you can check your statistics and progress on the main World Tour page.  Progress tells you how far you have made it through the game while statistics tell you about your particular playing habits and how well you are doing.  You can also see your achievements by tapping the Extras button on the main page or in World Tour.  This gives you the various things that you have achieved while playing the game such as long note streaks or by coming back from the brink of failure to succeed in a song.

Figure 12 - Progression tells you how far you have made it through Rock Band for iPhone

Figure 13 - Statistics of how you have done while playing Rock Band for iPhone

Figure 14 - Achievements are things that you have accomplished while playing Rock Band

One of the more fun and exciting aspects of Rock Band for iPhone is the ability to play the game multiplayer in two ways – with other iPhone users via Bluetooth or over your 3G connection.  This makes it fun to play at parties or get together’s with friends who have the game as well.  When you play online you can set it up where you set up a private game or open yourself up to playing anyone on any song you select.  So why play online?  Because you get online fans as well – the more you play the higher your ranking and the more fans you gain.

Figure 15 - Setting up a Rock Band multiplayer game can be done online or by Bluetooth with other iPhone users near you

Figure 16 - You can have a private jam session or play anyone online in multiplayer mode in Rock Band for iPhone

It is hard not to like what has become a modern classic in video games, even on the iPhone platform.  The game play is outstanding and the graphic quality is terrific.  My only real complaint with the game comes with the shaking of your iPhone to power up to increase the multiplier.  It is difficult to do this without accidentally hitting a button on the screen (thus loosing the multiplier) or having the phone slip out of your hands.  I’m not sure what the answer is on this.  If EA makes it more sensitive then you could accidentally power up the multiplier unintentionally. Then again, this could simply be a thing I have to get use to while playing the game. 

Rock Band is in the iTunes App Store for $6.99.  Additional songs range from free to .99 cents each.

As Rhyner says on The Ticket, “keep jammin’” 

What I Like:
* Outstanding graphics
* Familiar Rock Band game play
* Online playing with friends close by or over the Internet
* Challenging difficulty
* Music Store to download more songs 

What I Don’t Like:
* Vocals are, eh, another instrument?  Should be where you have to sing into your iPhone
* The shake to power up the multiplier is tough to activate without accidentally hitting a key on the screen
* Causes sweaty hands

Price:  $6.99